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Berlin (dpa) - The federal government has called for the corona resolutions made jointly with the federal states to tighten and extend the lockdown to be implemented.

"In the current situation, from our point of view, consistent implementation of the federal-state resolutions, also with a view to the even more contagious virus variant (...), is essential and that also applies to the resolutions on schools," said government spokesman Steffen Seibert on Friday in Berlin.

Seibert responded to questions about how schools were to proceed in the federal states.

For example, the Berlin Senate decided to offer alternate classes again for graduating classes starting next Monday, i.e. a combination of learning at home and in schools in small groups.

Graduating classes are also returning to schools in several other countries.

Elementary school students are to follow in the capital a week later.

There are also plans in Lower Saxony and Baden-Württemberg to allow at least elementary school students back to school from mid-January.

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In Berlin, the plans have provoked criticism in the past few days, for example from the GEW teachers' union, some school principals, parents and student representatives.

The director of education of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Andreas Schleicher, however, thinks it is correct.

“There are always difficult considerations.

But especially in the first years of school and life, face-to-face teaching is simply irreplaceable, ”said the educational researcher on Friday to rbb-Inforadio.

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and the Prime Ministers of the federal states agreed on Tuesday that the measures taken in December in the federal states will be extended to the end of January.

In principle, this means closed schools or suspended attendance and closed daycare centers or only emergency daycare with a request to parents not to bring their children if possible.

Exceptions may be expressly made for graduating classes at schools, although this is not intended for primary schools.

In principle, however, the federal states can always regulate how they proceed in the pandemic, since they are also responsible for schools and daycare centers themselves.

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In many places, schools and daycare centers are not really closed: Parents who have no other option can bring their children.

In Hamburg, for example, at the start of school after the Christmas break this Tuesday, according to the authorities, around a third of the children were in daycare and every fifth child in primary school.

Government spokesman Seibert said: "In the view of the Federal Government, it should not be about the broadest possible, extensive interpretation of the resolutions, but about doing everything we can to stick to these resolutions and thereby achieve their purpose."

The topics of school and daycare are among the most controversial in this pandemic because many different interests of parents, children, education unions and teachers' associations clash.

GEW boss Marlis Tepe had described the dilemma before Christmas as follows: "Everyone is trying to square the circle between the compatibility of family and work, the legal right to education and health protection."

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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210108-99-947992 / 2

Federal-state resolution of January 5, 2021 with schools and daycare centers